Software

SteelSeries Engine 3 is the software package that comes with the Arctis 9 Wireless, as well as every other headset from the same family. As soon as you install it, it will check for any available software or headset firmware update to make sure you're up to date on those fronts.

The user interface is easy on the eyes, very responsive, and simple to use. If you turn the "Live Preview" switch at the bottom of the window to "On," everything you do in the driver will be applied to the headset right away without having to press "Save." This is pretty nice, especially if you plan to play with the equalizer, as you'll be able to play your songs and hear the effect of the changes right away.


As far as sound settings go, the most interesting part of it has to be the system-wide equalizer, where you'll be able to tune the way the headset sounds. There are ten frequency bands to fiddle with: 31 Hz, 62 Hz, 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz, 8 kHz, and 16 kHz. If you're unsure about what you're doing, you can try out some of the built-in presets: Flat, Bass Boost, Reference, or Smiley. I can't tell you which one to pick as those I prefer won't necessarily be to your liking. Simply play your favorite music, play with the equalizer, and see what you like. I suggest sticking with the Flat profile or, should you feel you need a bit more bass, manually adjust the 31, 62, and 125 Hz sliders. If you start to hear distortion, you went too far.


When you activate DTS Headphone:X V2 virtual surround sound mode, you'll get access to a couple of surround-related options, such as Surround Profile (Studio, Game, and Cinema try to simulate listening to 7.1 speakers in different environments), Stereo Profile (Default, Small Room, and Large Room apply different levels of artificial stereo widening; stick with Default), Bass Enhancement, and Dialogue Enhancement.

On the right, we have the microphone section. Here, you can turn on "Live Mic Preview," an option that will play the sound picked up by the microphone through the headphones with about a 0.5-second delay. It's there so you can check on how you sound—don't use it for anything else. We also have the "Mic Volume" and "Mic Sidetone" sliders. Mic Sidetone is essentially a microphone-monitoring feature. When you turn it on, it will play the sound of your own voice through the headphones, but with no delay, which can be extremely useful if you're someone who finds it annoying to chat while wearing closed-back headphones. They make it harder for you to hear your own voice and can cause you to sound nasal and talk louder than necessary. By adjusting the Mic Sidetone slider, you basically make the Arctis 9 Wireless behave like it were open-back in that you'll be able to hear yourself much better and won't sound weird to your friends. I suggest going for the Low or Medium setting. When set to High, it picked up the sounds of my mechanical keyboard, which annoyed me a bit. Otherwise, I loved this feature and used it constantly.

If you're using the Arctis 9 Wireless on your PlayStation console, but also own a PC, you can use the SteelSeries Engine 3 software to configure the headset (EQ, microphone sidetone), save the settings to the headset, and use them on your console. DTS Headphone:X V2 virtual surround sound is a PC-only feature, though.

Overall, the SteelSeries Engine 3 is a great piece of software. It offers various useful settings and is not filled with needless features.